Today we celebrate the return of favored vocal group the J's with Jamie (although under another name) and we offer two other items, both courtesy of old friend David Federman - his compilation of "I Want to Be Happy" recordings and a pioneering album of the music of Silvestre Revueltas.
The J's with Jamie = Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers
The J's with Jamie vocal group have made periodic appearances here, plus there have been a few other sides that featured their lead singer Jamie Silvia.
The group had a busy schedule recording commercial spots, while also cutting a few LPs for Columbia in the early 60s. My previously uploaded J's with Jamie material (including some of their commercial work) can be found here.
By 1966, they had changed their name to Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers. This could have been done to put Jamie out front (she was the star of the group), or to work the name of her husband (Joe Silvia) into the title. Or it could have been to avoid confusion with the Jamies, who had a hit in 1958 with "Summertime, Summertime."
Whatever the reason for the name change, Jamie's photo dominates the cover of this, the first of the group's two recordings for ABC-Paramount.
Music was changing at the time, and the group tried to change with the times. Some of the LP's material was similar to what it would have performed in earlier years: recent movie songs ("The Shadow of Your Smile,""The Days of Wine and Roses,""A Taste of Honey"), relatively recent traditional pop ballads ("This Is All I Ask,""Softly, as I Leave You"), older songs ("Lost in the Stars,""Nature Boy"), and a novelty (Dick Hyman's setting of "It Was a Lover and His Lass," similar to the Peter Warlock setting available here).
Added to this was the ration of Beatles songs that was mandatory at the time ("Yesterday,""Eight Days a Week,""We Can Work It Out"), also the schlock of "It's Not Unusual." Predictably, the group did not handle this material as well. Some of it was dependent on the talents of the original artists: only John Lennon and mates could put over "Eight Days a Week," and "It's Not Unusual" is only suited for the bombast of Tom Jones, which is far away from the J's with Jamie sound. Meanwhile, "Yesterday" was overexposed, at the time being emoted by every singer in every lounge in the land, and this version is not distinctive.
J's with Jamie aficionados believe the ABC-Paramount recordings are not as good as the Columbia records, and it's hard to disagree, although there are some good moments. Jamie and her associates were to make only one more LP, which I will transfer later on.
'I Want to Be Happy' x 21
The first recording in David's collection comes from June 1924, even before "I Want to Be Happy" made its Broadway debut in the Youmans-Caesar-Harbach show No, No Nanette. It was likely recorded during the musical's successful Chicago run before moving to the West End and then Broadway. This initial recording is from industry figure Gus Haenschen, under his disc pseudonym Carl Fenton.
Many of the subsequent interpretations are from the jazz realm, running from the swing styles of Chick Webb and Benny Goodman on to the bop inflections of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. There also are several famous vocalists, including June Christy, whom I added at David's suggestion. It's the first version that popped into my head when he mentioned his compilation.
The Music of Silvestre Revueltas
David comments, "The late novelist and poet Jim Harrison wrote that whenever he thinks of Spain he thinks of Federico Garcia Lorca, and his assassination as a homosexual by a Franco firing squad in August 1936. Silvestre Revueltas wrote a three-movement homage to the poet in 1937 whose slow movement always moves me to tears. It's a highlight on this long out-of-print 1956 MGM LP devoted to the Mexican composer's music conducted by Carlos Surinach. Revueltas wrote this in Spain where he was sent as part of a cultural delegation by his government in support of the Spanish Republic in 1937."
Thanks as always to David for his generosity.
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| Silvestre Revueltas |